American Philosophy

In American Philosophy, John Kaag - a disillusioned philosopher at sea in his marriage and career - stumbles upon a treasure trove of rare books on an old estate in the hinterlands of New Hampshire that once belonged to the Harvard philosopher William Ernest Hocking. The library includes notes from Whitman, inscriptions from Frost, and first editions of Hobbes, Descartes, and Kant. As he begins to catalog and preserve these priceless books, Kaag rediscovers the very tenets of American philosophy.

This book throws light on many features of the American character. Its concern is not merely to portray the scorners of intellect in American life, but to say something about what the intellectual is, and can be, as a force in a democratic society.

The text that inspired Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and movements of peaceful resistance around the world—now in a new accessible edition with introduction and notes by Henry Bugalho. In 1849, Henry David Thoreau published one of the most influential essays in the history of political thought. Jailed for refusing to pay taxes that would finance the war against Mexico and the maintenance of slavery, Thoreau transformed his night in prison into a devastating reflection on the limits of obedience to the State. When the law is unjust, to obey is to collaborate with injustice. Civil ...

As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.

A sweeping narrative history of the U.S. government’s broken compact with its Muslim citizens, culminating in the post-9/11 era of mass surveillance and increased violence—from an award-winning New York Times Magazine journalist. “A deeply reported tale of hysteria, bigotry, surveillance...

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord.

Master modern life's complex dilemmas using the practical tools of transformative pragmatism and civic ethics. Whether you are navigating workplace conflicts, searching for personal purpose, or seeking an intellectually stimulating listen during your daily commute, these living traditions...

"At a time when many people feel discouraged and unheard, the life of Thomas Paine serves as an apt reminder of the power of ideas and the written word. David Benner has given us a tremendous gift with this absorbing book." -Thomas E. Woods, New York Times bestselling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, and Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century “Thomas Paine rocked the political and religious establishments of America, France, and Britain. David Benner's new biography makes the implausible story of the author of "Common Sense" come ...

BASED ON TRUE EVENTS One of the bloodiest “little wars” in American history, that saw the deaths of 4,200 U.S. soldiers, serves as the background for this story of high adventure and brutal combat. The year is 1898 and the setting is the island of Sulu in the Philippines. The Spanish-American War has just ended and with its victory over Spain, the United States has gained possession of the islands. However, American troops are now fighting a series of savage and brutal guerrilla skirmishes with rebellious local tribes who wish independence. The most feared and fearless of these are the ...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a “provocative and compelling” (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New...

Exploring American higher education from its founding in the 17th century to its struggle to innovate and adapt in the first decades of the 21st century, Thelin demonstrates that the experience of going to college has been central to American life for generations of students and their families. Drawing from archival research, along with the pioneering scholarship of leading historians, Thelin raises profound questions about what colleges are - and what they should be. 

This award-winning essay written in 1982-83, and now published as a book, affirms the relevance of John Dewey's social philosophy. John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American pragmatist philosopher who was a fixture as a public intellectual in the first half of the twentieth century and was most famous for his writings on education. Yet Dewey had a wider repertoire which included writings on epistemology (the theory of knowledge), on other philosophical topics, and on various social and political topics. This essay was the first-place winner in the 1983 John Dewey Undergraduate Essay Project ...

"The Story of Philosophy: Contemporary American Philosophers: Santayana, James, and Dewey" by Will Durant provides a detailed and accessible exploration of the lives, ideas, and lasting contributions of three pivotal figures in American philosophy.

New York Times Bestseller Editors' Choice —New York Times Book Review ""Ricks knocks it out of the park with this jewel of a book. On every page I learned something new. Read it every night if you want to restore your faith in our country."" —James Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (ret.) & 26th...

What would it take to transform industrial-era schools into modern organizations capable of supporting deep learning for all? Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine's quest to answer this question took them inside some of America's most innovative schools and classrooms - places where educators are rethinking both what and how students should learn. The story they tell is alternately discouraging and hopeful. Drawing on hundreds of hours of observations and interviews at 30 different schools, Mehta and Fine reveal that deeper learning is more often the exception than the rule.

Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) was a student of William James at Harvard University and a contemporary of John Dewey, but Santayana was not part of American Pragmatism. Santayana created his own original and distinctive view of philosophy flavored by his European cultural background (born in Spain, but raised and educated as an American). The great historian of philosophy Frederick Copleston, S.J., places Santayana in the school of critical realism, one of several reactions to the idealist philosophy influential in nineteenth-century America and Britain. I draw ...

Originally published in 1776, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was lauded by America's founders as a landmark work of Enlightenment thinking. Glory Liu traces how generations of Americans have read, reinterpreted, and weaponized Smith's ideas, revealing how his popular image as a champion of American-style capitalism and free markets is a historical invention.

It is time to focus on what the United States has gotten right in the pursuit of liberty in the last 250 years since the nation’s founding. Two beliefs undergird America’s experiment in liberty, and they are articulated in the Declaration of Independence. The book “We Hold These Truths”...

The American president has come to be the most powerful figure in the world. And back in the 19th century, a great man held that office. William Lee Miller's new book closely examines that great man in that hugely important office: Abraham Lincoln as president.

A man and his young son embark on a summer motorcycle road trip across America’s Northwest, seeking to reconnect and explore the open country. But this is no ordinary vacation. As the miles unspool, the journey transforms into a profound philosophical inquiry, a rolling Chautauqua that seeks...